[A/N] Thank you for staying with me this whole time. The part right before this, I covered my plans for after this. Look, guys! I made it before the 2-year anniversary. I can't begin to explain how grateful I am to you all for staying with me all this time. My life is so unbelievably different now when compared to where I was at when I started this. All of the changes were positive. In a way, I owe LDOD. And I'm so proud of myself for finishing what I started.

Kana

It's tomorrow. Tomorrow is the day when we share the tape. It'll only really get released in Japan and America, but hopefully news of it will spread everywhere. Ren and Joanie are probably the ones who have the most fame in general, so their contributions are the most likely to get widespread coverage, but that doesn't mean we don't have a part to play in more niche communities.

We're hosting a giant party. Free admittance, because we want as many people as possible coming. It took us a lot of time to save up funds, earn scholarships, schmooze it up, and just generally get enough money to do this. Fuji is sponsoring us, and so are our parents. They know what happened. Some of us kept it hidden from our families until now. I wanted to, but figured the fallout from tonight would wreck them if I shut my mouth for too long.

It would make more sense for me to try and avoid it, but honestly, I've watched my copy of the tape over and over again. The more I do, the less real it feels. It's like I'm watching a horror movie I acted in where my character died. I have some lines memorized. Part of me wonders whether I'm some sort of masochist, but it kind of helps. The tape doesn't hurt me as much anymore, which will be incredibly helpful tomorrow night. It also reassures me because Gou was careful to hide information about Chimon's illegal work; at this point in his life, it would only cause harm for that to be public knowledge.

My phone starts ringing, and I see that Fujiko has set up a video call with the two of us and Chimon, so I answer eagerly. Monterio is at my side, so he doesn't need to. "Eeee! Hi, cuties! I love seeing your faces!" she greets. She's legit glowing, and she's not even using any sort of filter.

Chimon answers a second later, holding up a peace sign and smiling cheesily. "Heyyyy, cuties! I love seeing your faces!"

"Am I that predictable?" she gasps, covering her mouth with a hand.

"Sort of? Honestly, I just know you all super well by now."

"Yeah, okay, you punk," I retort, but to my surprise, he follows along and says it with me. "Okay, that's actually creepy."

"Thank you, thank you, I'll be here all week!"

Monterio hums contentedly, setting his head on my shoulder. I pat him gently. "I legit, like, never ever get over how absolutely adorbs you two are," Fujiko swoons.

"What are you calling for, Fuji? Just to chat?" I ask.

"Kinda. Like, yes and no both. This time tomorrow, it's all gonna be going down, so I want to spend our last normal night with you. But also, I do have news, so like, it's not all just super causal."

"Casual."

"Yeah! I know that one. Slip-up."

"What's your news, Fujiko? Releasing a new palette?"

"Oh! Two pieces of news, then! Yeah, I'm releasing some new blushes. But I wanted to say... Michiko and I went on a date! And it went even better than I could've hoped!" Her blushing face is super endearing, and she sways a little bit.

"OMG, congrats! We could feel the chemistry immediately, so it's not all that surprising. What did you guys do together?"

"We went to a karaoke cafe, watched a cute little romcom, and then went to my house and baked some cupcakes! We were just intending to do karaoke, but we had so much fun that we just kept it going!"

"Holy SHIT! Wasn't that, like, literally your dream date that you told me about all that time ago?! Congratu-fuckin'-lations!" I grin, kicking my legs ecstatically. Monterio has to take the phone because I'm shaking it.

Fujiko excitedly rambles about it, about how Michiko has a nice voice and how the movie had incredible costume design and how they held hands and how the cupcakes came out beautiful and how she dropped Michiko off and they shared a kiss before parting. The whole story is so cute and it really makes my heart warm.

Soon, though, Monterio hands the phone back to me, and starts texting someone on his. Chimon's camera turns off. Huh. Fujiko and I both notice, and I can feel a pit of worry start to settle in the pit of my stomach. What are they up to? Chimon's camera turns on again, and his expression is hard to read. "Sorry. Monterio noticed I was uncharacteristically quiet. I'm just... worried."

Fujiko's own expression sinks a little. "I know." It hits me, then, what he means. In a day, everything is revealed, including Fujiko's part in it. I have no doubt in my mind that none of us have told Michiko. Fujiko's dyslexia and CAIS are already two very sensitive parts of herself she feels compelled to share with anyone she dates– the fact that Michiko was okay with both is wonderful. But now we have something completely earth-shattering that could understandably be a dealbreaker, only a day after an awesome date. She sighs, but when she opens her eyes, they're contemplative. "I considered that, too. I've always wanted to get married and have a family, and doing this tomorrow could totally wreck my chances. But no matter what happens, I'll still be okay. Today was fun, and I'm just glad I could have it. Besides! You all promised me I won't grow old alone, and I'm gonna hold you to that!"

"You won't have to! You're stuck with us, right?" I insist, tilting my chin up.

She giggles softly. "Good."

"Hey, you should come over and spend the night, Fuji," Chimon offers.

"Mm, okay! As long as you don't mind me calling these two and hashing out some last details about tomorrow."

"That's fine. I wanna know about it, too."

"Okie, I should probably get packing, then! Bye bye, lovelies! I'll call you later!"

"Wait, Fujiko. Call me in a second, I have something I want to ask you privately," Monterio interjects.

"Alrighty! I'll do that right away! I'll start heading out soon, Chimon! Like, half an hour max."

"See you soon! I love you guys!"

"We love you, too," my partner responds. The video call ends but Monterio's phone rings. He gets up and walks outside. I'm extremely curious. Not suspicious, cause I trust both of them with my life, literally. But ooooh, this is itching my brain. I watch a couple of short videos to distract myself so that I don't get tempted to try and eavesdrop on his end of their conversation. Our dance friends that we convinced to do a little showcase for our event are seriously all super cool, so I wind up watching various routines of theirs. After about ten minutes, he comes back inside.

I figure there's no harm in just asking straight-up. "What's that about?" He puts a finger to his lip with a playful smile. "Fiiiiiiine."

"Do you have your homework done?"

"Yep. I wanted to procrastinate, but there's no way I'll be able to focus tomorrow, so I took care of it."

"Let's go out tonight. Again, last normal night and all that."

"Yeah, sure. I wanted to be famous all my life, but I don't know how I'll handle infamous." He snickers. But honestly, I'm more worried for him. He never wanted to be famous. He handles attention decently, but I've always been the one to drag it away from him if it's getting to be too much for him. I don't know if I'll be able to distract everyone anymore. He gives me a peaceful expression, forever able to basically read my thoughts. I walk up to him, caress his face, and give him a quick kiss. After this, we head to his car. He drives us to our old favorite restaurant, the one we went to the first time we won a competition. Once we've finished eating (he buys me dessert), he heads to the outskirts of town, where there's less light pollution and thousands of stars.

We lay on our backs on a hill, his arm around me, and I stare at the sky. We're perfectly content in one another. "Hey, so... I figure, with the future so uncertain, we should have something to look forward to."

"Yeah? We should go to the water park!"

He chuckles. "Sure. That would be fun. It's not exactly what I meant, though."

"Like, something with all of WDR? It'd be hard to pull off, but I'm sure we could make it happen. Aside from maybe the seafarers."

"Let's get married, Kana."

That jolts the ever-living hell out of my heart, but it settles quickly and I feel no need to move. "Mhm. That sounds perfect. Weddings are expensive, though. You don't mind a long engagement?"

"No problem. Though, we could have something really small and then have a bigger wedding a few years later, once we've saved up enough. I want you to have a dream wedding."

I smile, imagining it. "Alright. We could do something for just immediate family and a few friends first. Is this what you called Fujiko about?"

He nods, and I'm blown away yet again by his kindness; he didn't want to do this on a night that would be too sensitive for her. "Oh, uh, I have a ring, too, by the way. Sorry for making this so casual."

"This was all I could've wanted."

He pries himself away from me and sits up. I follow suit. He digs a box out of his pocket. It's black, and has a garnet in the middle. "It's beautiful, Monterio." I stick out my hand, and he slides it onto my finger. My eyes start to water, and I let it happen.

"I've never envisioned my future with anyone but you. For years."

"I love you, my Life Partner."

"I love you, my Life Partner."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ren

For a minute there, I feel like I might have another panic attack, which is extremely concerning, to say the least. I need to step out there and perform. In a few minutes. I try to remind myself that the actual concert is business as usual, it's what comes after that's the scary part. I love putting on a show. It'll be okay. I breathe deeply and try to take a page out of Zu's book, repeating a kind-of mantra to myself. You will be okay. This will improve so many lives.

Speaking of Zu, she and a lot of others are in the front row right now: Tozen, Bisque, Yuu, Nari, Ruri, Junpei, Ayame, Enmei, and Rika, as well as my family. Chuya would be here, too, but she's leading the charge at the circus so that nobody would have to choose between being here to support me or there to support Azumi. I think everyone is starting to get nervous– those in the loop because this is so important, and those out of the loop because this is clearly a much bigger deal than my usual concerts, and they have next to no idea why. I twist the mood rings on my fingers anxiously; I don't wear my old fishnet gloves anymore, but this is a good anxious-fidget replacement. I look in the mirror. I feel confident in my body right now, which is helpful; feeling wrong in my skin would only add to this stress. I have my big sunhat, which has sort of become a staple. And today, I get some awesome neon green eyeliner, too. I can hear that the opening band is starting the last song of their set. Holy shit. Holy shit. I grit my teeth and ball my fists into the mirror, and then shake my head, replacing my expression with one of pure confidence and joy. The final chord rings out, and the audience bursts into applause. Alright. Go time.

"And now, your main act, the Glowing Guitarist himself, Ren Enomoto!" The audience screams louder, and they start chanting for me. I march out, and the crowd embraces me like an old friend. The anxiety runs through my head, but at least I'm not being met with hostility– I remember Hibiki's passive-aggressiveness and insincere warmth so clearly, and this is not that. I march up to the stool, guitar nestled familiarly in my lap. I lean in somewhat closer to the microphone than usual, and then, in a low tone, say, "How are all you beautiful people doing tonight?" Another bout of applause. "This is a very special night, and I'm incredibly grateful to all of you for joining me." I want to say, "Especially my lovelies in the first row," but I know that Nari hates being put on the spot. She knows she has to get some spotlight at the end, but I want to make this as easy on her as possible. "So! Let's get this party started, yeah?" I urge, winking.

I start playing, then. I want this to be my chronicle, so I start at the end, my most recent songs, and I'm going to go backwards. It helps that the newer ones are faster; I want to ride the wave of energy that the starting band set up. Everyone has glow sticks, and since the sun is setting, some people are starting to crack them open. Shortly thereafter, I get off the stool and start pacing the stage, interacting with the audience, working the crowd. I dedicate myself to throwing all of my passion and all of myself into this. I think my audience can tell, because this may be the most explosive reaction I've ever gotten. The vibe shifts as I start to transition into my older songs, especially the more emotional ones, but even though the feeling is different, it's still just as intense. My friends have been singing along the whole time, offering their unending support, even Yuu, who's always been insecure about his voice. Tamiko, Ruri, Junpei, and Rika seem especially excited– it's Ruri and Junpei's first concert. Actually, now that I think about it, it might be Tozen's, too! I look at him and beam, and he waves, smiling just as widely. Suddenly, I feel something tighten in my throat. It's setting in now. Everything is going to be different. So, so soon. All of my loved ones... their smiles are in jeopardy. I'm so scared. So scared.

I close my eyes and imagine Gou's smiling face. The way he beamed at us. How he said we were so cool just because we thought about following through with his last wish. How he noogied me and messed around with all of us in his last moments of the simulation because he didn't want us to cry. I will NEVER forget his sacrifice, or take it for granted, or waste this life of mine. Even if it gets hard. Even if the world starts to hate us. White Daisy Room was founded out of spite and hatred for other people, but our friendships are way beyond that. No matter what may come, we have each other.

I start up my last song of the night, which also happens to be my first viral hit– "Antares." It's a ballad. I remember what my life was like when I made it. The days were blending together, all the same tucked in my house, and this was one of the only sources of excitement in my life. It was also for my mother, sitting there right in the front row, who had been so completely crushed by Koyuki's death. We're both so much healthier now, but I'll always be grateful to her for pushing me to continue with music. Without my songs, none of this would've been possible. I did tell my family about all of this beforehand; I'm afraid that they might get harassed for having kept me inside, and I wanted them to have warning so we can make a plan. Mom's sobbing. This is going to kill me.

I strike the last chord, and the audience goes fucking crazy. I feel so much that I just... fall on my knees. My loved ones look at me, concerned. I gaze at them and see Tozen mouth, "Can you do this?"

I nod at him. "Just a second," I mouth back. I will my legs to stand, to stop being jelly. I stagger a bit, but steady myself after a moment. I sit back on the stool and clutch my guitar, my favorite comfort item. In my other hand, I grip the microphone. I take one last deep breath, and then force my voice out.

"Hey, everyone! Thank you so much for coming out here! As for that news that I promised you, I can absolutely assure you that it's not what you're thinking. It's not... particularly happy news, either." I hear murmurs, most of which are speculating that I'm retiring or maybe even sick. "First, I need to call up a few members of the audience onstage: Azumi Hiarabayashi, Tozen Chiba, Nari Igarashi, Yuu Bando, and Haruto Gima." They all clamber up, and the crowd whispers. Nari's eyes are wide, and her knees look like they might buckle, too. Yuu's eyes are shut tight, like they're preparing for a preemptive strike. Azumi and Tozen hold each other's hands tight, and Haruto stands tall despite giving the audience a weary expression.

"You all know Team Danganronpa, right?" Murmurs increase, along with a few shouts of disdain and boos. "Well... Shuichi, Maki, and Himiko of Danganronpa V3 are not the final victims." Rabble. "We are six of sixteen. Let me make it clear: all of this occurred in a simulation about three years ago. It was meant to be a 'trial run,' for seasons of Danganronpa in which nobody truly dies. However... someone did die, and all of us were forever deeply scarred. We were preyed on and manipulated by a former member of Team Danganronpa: he is also dead. Danganronpa is done forever, but we're sharing this because we want you all to understand something: trauma is real, the world isn't perfect or boring, and we NEED to have compassion for one another. I understand that this all sounds completely unbelievable, but we have proof. We'll be streaming this from now on, so if you need to leave at any point, that's completely okay. Above all, take care of yourselves. Also, I'm sure I don't need to tell you this, but be damn adults about this. Do NOT harass ANYONE who is mentioned or takes part in this video. If I get any reports of it, I will assure you're banned from my concerts forever, and possibly contact authorities if it goes too far. Violent crime has been low for decades: keep it that way. Thank you all for everything you've done for me. And thank you for watching our story."

The video starts to play. Bisque grapples all of us into a major group hug, and then, once we feel like we can, we slink out backstage and even toward the exit. The paparazzi is already here, already dogpiling us with questions. But we move forward.

We always move forward.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hachi

I'm really lucky to have such good people in my life. I knew that as soon as I left Keiji and Joanie's place, Wakumi, the rest of the crew, and I would go back on open waters for a long time. But I realized that Mum being alone really wouldn't work. She's hurt, too, and I don't want people hurting her while I'm not around. I didn't know how to explain this to her or even how to get her here– Keijoanie wound up buying my mom a plane ticket to America and then she agreed to join us when I begged for actual hours. She knows that SOMETHING is wrong. Maybe a month into this, I'll try to tell her exactly what. I just don't want this ripping our progress open. My relatives are taking care of the house, the shop, and our garden. Mum isn't used to this, obviously. I'm still hardly used to it. I'm lucky Mum isn't seasick, but the crew is too rowdy for her. She stays in the lower deck where everyone sleeps most of the time, and keeps to herself, aside from a few times where the wee ones ask her to tell stories. Mum is good at bedtime stories. Occasionally, we port for about an hour so that Capp'n can get food, but Wakumi, Mum, and I lay low and stay in the ship: people definitely know what happened by now, and I just don't think I could bear the attention. I don't want people touching me. Worse, I don't want him to find us.

Joanie was super cool and asked everyone to write me letters a couple weeks before I left, though, and they all came in on time. Actually, a lot of people sent packages, too. Sayuri sent a book of her poetry, Nari sent a giant pack of candy (that I've been sharing), Bisque sent a really cool poster from one of my favorite anime, and Azumi sent a whole lot of toys, like yo-yos and dominos and bubbles and spinning tops. Tops don't work very well on ships, but they've all been a lot of fun and good for staving off boredom. I've gotten really good at yo-yoing, and the kids like trying it, too. I don't fit in perfectly because I refuse to tussle (it makes me very not-okay), but they generally like me and that's good.

Azumi also sent paper and a giant pack of colored pencils (sharpener included), so I'm doodling right now. Mum is, too. We draw lots and lots and lots of flowers, I draw some animals, she draws some fruit and some beverages. Eventually, I take a sheet of paper for myself and start drawing some bad stuff on it, but I keep it a secret. I draw someone horrific: with viney burn marks, rashes on their throat and chest, gouged out eyes, snapped neck, tons of paper cuts, a chest wound, a caved in skull. They also look terribly parched. My therapist calls stuff like this vent art. I silently go upstairs, crunch the thing till it's as small as I can possibly make it, and throw it far into the ocean. "Aye. Lassie, no litterin'. Ain't good fer the fishes."

"I know. Sorry. I'm upset."

She sighs. "Yeah. Figured ye might be. 'M not really in the greatest o' moods either."

"I'm scared and sad."

She stays silent. She'd never, ever say "Me too," but this is the closest she could possibly get.

"What are your dreams, Wakumi?"

"Got none."

"We should both find one. It can be something stupid. You could write letters and put them in bottles and throw them in the ocean, and your dream could be people finding them and working together to get them all in one place. Or, um. You're good at cards. You could be a card shark. I'm glad we haven't run into any sharks. Do we have magnets or something? Keiji says sharks are scared of magnets."

"Ain't fear. Just a repellant. Technically, yer compass is magnetized. So, in a way, ye bein' a landlubber with no wayfarin' skills is keepin' us a li'l more safe."

"Oh cool. Hope Nari's doing okay. Maybe she would've wanted to run away with us, too."

She groans. "I'd've let 'er join, but, fer future reference, stop invitin' people ta the ship. That's a decision we don't make lightly."

"I want to go snuggle with my pillow. Come downstairs with me."

"Why?" she asks with a sneer, raising her eyebrow. I go, not checking to see if she's following, but when I get to where I'm going, I see that she came. She stays pretty far from my mum. Everyone keeps their distance from her, but Kumi especially. It makes sense; everyone here is an orphan but me, and having an actual mum on the ship is prolly a really weird adjustment. I think it helps that Mum doesn't try to enforce any rules or manners or anything, but I think that mostly just keeps everyone from requesting we throw her overboard. Capp'n and Wakumi would never let that happen, and they'd probably be jesting anyway. But still. Better for everyone.

I sit down on my pillow and doodle more. Happier stuff this time. Or, at least, not bad stuff. Just random stuff. Clocks. Foxes. Socks. Oh wait, those all rhyme. Maybe it wasn't so random. I open Sayuri's poetry book– there's usually not a whole lot I like, cause she does a lot of love poetry and some of the rest is kinda inaccessible. But there are a few that are just really fun. This one has a super snappy rhythm and tons of rhymes and it's about scary movies. It makes me tap my toes happily. Mmm, when I get back home eventually, I should get a pedicure. I haven't gotten one since I was little cause people touching me is weird, but it sounds kinda nice now. They have this lavender-scented lotion.

"Lassie, ye're zonin' again. Where's yer head?"

"Pedicures." She rolls her eyes derisively. I get closer to her and whisper. "I know you stayed out of it cause it's not your thing, but I kinda wish I was still alive when you guys had that girls' night and did face masks and stuff."

She thinks. She used to be so reactionary, and she kinda still is, but she has a lot more of a filter with me. "It was kinda fun. Not as fun as this, but not drivelin' hogwash."

"You know you can admit that we're your friends, too."

She glares instinctively, but then stops. She goes to one end of the room and pulls out some boxes. I open my eyes wide– people gave packages to Wakumi, too! Different stuff– a crap ton of jerky, some penny whistles, cartography pens, and lots and lots of bandanas. Once again, she says nothing. I don't think she's able to actually confirm what I told her. Joanie is the only one she calls a friend. Gou was, too. But I think this is the best she can do, and it's already amazing. Mum looks up curiously, and Wakumi immediately packs everything back up and shoves it away. She starts to shuffle some cards and set up for a game of Speed, but I stop her. I go sit by my mum, which makes Wakumi glare again, but I beckon her over, to make her know I'm not picking Mum over her. She shakes her head but seems more okay now.

"Mum, can you braid my hair like yours?"

"Alright, my dear," she complies quietly. She takes the bamboo brush– one of the few things she brought with her– and strokes it through my hair carefully. We've made sure my hair hasn't gotten tangled or ratty, so it's smooth. Midway through, I realize that we don't have any bobbypins, so she can't pin my hair up in milkmaid braids like hers. To my surprise, though, she just takes them out of her own hair to use on me. Wakumi stares at us. "I understand that I cannot braid your hair, since it's too short. Would you like me to brush it, though?"

Kumi fliches but then shakes her head 'casually.' Mum doesn't take it personally, but starts to get that distant look in her eyes– we share the look but not the eyes, my eyes are from my dad who died young. I offer her a candy and she gives a tiny little laugh before accepting this. I notice my mum's paper before she can hide it from me. She made vent art, too. I shiver. "Mum, can you sing me a lullaby?"

She hums in confirmation and then starts to sing an old song. While she was hiding our trauma from me cause I didn't remember it, we were both alone. I'm happy to have her back, even if just a little bitty bit. I lay down, and enjoy the song. After a long time, long enough for Wakumi to learn the melody, I hear her whistle join in the song. I tilt my head to try and find her. She inches just a tiny bit closer to us.

I'm scared to lose this tiny little scrap of happiness I've found. But the fact that it's there in the first place makes my heart feel the warmest it's felt in I don't even know how long. Because now both of Gou's wishes were granted.